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Anyone here into FOREX?

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Cromulent said:
Hi guys. I've been playing around with the OANDA demo account for a while now and was thinking about going in with a very small real account. Is it worth it? I mean I really am talking about a small account, what would be your minimum for starting out? Basically I just want to put enough in that if I lose it it won't make any real difference to me financially.

Plus is OANDA the best site to go with? I'm in the UK so I am unsure of these things at the moment.
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What's your strategy? If it's news trading, like it was talked about at the beginning of this thread, then, no OANDA is not the best.

If your trading news, the only real solution is to do what Music_Producer is doing and get on the Currenex platform.(minimum deposit=$50k)

If it's not news, then IMO, OANDA isn't a half bad broker.

Like Music_Producer has said, start with $50(or around there). Don't deposit anymore until you've doubled that $50.(I think that's what he said, correct me if I'm wrong)

Hope that helps,
Nathan

Edit: You can start with $1 on OANDA so it's not a big deal if you lose it.
 
Hey everyone, we have a big one today - bank of england rate decision. They will probably leave rates alone but all this Barclays business might push them to reduce rates.. I am hoping they do so.. for a great trade. GU has pushed up beyond 2.1000 level.. so a rate cut would bring in a good 150+ pips (or even more)

If you were watching the charts yesterday, it was a crazy day. Some chinese official opened his mouth stating that 'We need to diversify our reserves into stronger currencies such as euros, etc" and EUR/USD jumped up 100 pips in a few seconds. My news feed was closed.. so when I saw that huge spike I immediately opened the feed to see what was going on.

USD took quite a beating yesterday.. EUR/USD broke the 1.47 barrier.. and pound broke 2.100 level. On days like these, trade with the trend. It's the easiest way to do so - if you missed out on the initial spike.. wait for a retracement and some profit taking. Buy on dips - NEVER short against a major buying trend!

I was checking out another forum yesterday and someone shorted the pound at 2.1000 level because it's a major level.. and he thought it would be a good opportunity for resistance.. and it would fall 20-30 pips. He bet his entire account on it.. GBP/USD went all the way up to 2.1050.. he got a margin call and he lost about $80k. :eek:

So DON't try and guess a top or a bottom, I don't know why people do that. If BoE cut rates today, and the pound falls.. I am certainly not going to go long if it falls to 2.0900 or 2.0800. Sure, it might start heading back up.. but it's a dangerous situation - it can easily turn against you.. and very quickly. It's safer to be with the trend.. and don't bet your entire account!

I have been trading these trend trades with small lots.. just experimenting. This morning I was absolutely positive (500% sure) that the DOW was going to crash because:

1. GM posted $39 billion loss
2. All the citigroup news (losses in billions)
3. The USD taking a beating and china threatening to diversify
4. A bunch of other companies reporting losses
5. Fannie and Freddie (mortgage companies) being probed ..

When you have so many bad news lumped together.. the equity markets cannot stop a crash. What's funny was the retards in forexfactory stating confidently that GBP/JPY was going to go up.. all the way to 240 (it was 237.30 at the time) based on technical indicators "harmonious pattern, candlestick crap, etc"

That is the worst decision you can ever make - trade on techs when you have gloomy fundamentals staring hard at you in the face. These idiots never learn their lesson. I shorted GJ.. it started going up to 237.60.. but I held on because I knew this was simply profit taking.. getting ready for a big fall.

Sure enough, the DOW crashed 360+ points.. GJ went down all the way to 235.60 or so.. I cashed in with 100 pips. So good luck trading and if you're a tech trader, just keep some fundamentals in mind.. for your account's sake!
 
Great commentary and explanations Music_Producer, I completely agree. I've only had time for stocks and commodities (Gold is doing quite nicely for me since the end of August :D) but I miss forex so I'm going to make a point to start in on it again soon. Reading posts like yours reminds me of how much I enjoy ti and how much I've missed it these past few months... ;) :)
 
~Shard~ said:
Great commentary and explanations Music_Producer, I completely agree. I've only had time for stocks and commodities (Gold is doing quite nicely for me since the end of August :D) but I miss forex so I'm going to make a point to start in on it again soon. Reading posts like yours reminds me of how much I enjoy ti and how much I've missed it these past few months... ;) :)
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I am so bummed man.. about gold.. I bought a few ounces when it was $725 or so.. I can't believe the damn thing is shooting up like there's a worldwide shortage. You said it follows a cycle though.. right? So it should slow down post-December?

Btw, if you have access to the Yuan.. check it out. It keeps rising against the dollar, and in my opinion it's almost a guaranteed bet that USD/CNY will keep dropping. Especially when the bank of china decides to float the currency. Their inflation keeps going up, so they have no choice but to hike rates. I've made 650 pips since the last 3 weeks on the Yuan (unfortunately with a small lot.. kicking myself.. if I was trading my usual lots.. I would have bought your apartment complex lol)

Btw, I am now on iTunes. So check my single out :p It was composed way back in 1997.. ten years to release it lol. I haven't changed the mastering, mixing.. nothing.. it's still vintage!

If anyone wants to ask questions about forex, first buy my track and then we can talk :D (my fee is 99 cents! and for you brits, aussies, etc.. that's nothing nowadays!)

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewArtist?id=266345846
 
Music_Producer said:
I am so bummed man.. about gold.. I bought a few ounces when it was $725 or so.. I can't believe the damn thing is shooting up like there's a worldwide shortage. You said it follows a cycle though.. right? So it should slow down post-December?
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That's correct, Gold is a seasonal play. I believe I explained it earlier in this thread, just search for "gold" as posted by "~Shard~" and I'm sure it will be easy to find. ;) Otherwise I can explain it again, however not right now as I am off to work... :D

Music_Producer said:
Btw, if you have access to the Yuan.. check it out. It keeps rising against the dollar, and in my opinion it's almost a guaranteed bet that USD/CNY will keep dropping. Especially when the bank of china decides to float the currency. Their inflation keeps going up, so they have no choice but to hike rates. I've made 650 pips since the last 3 weeks on the Yuan (unfortunately with a small lot.. kicking myself.. if I was trading my usual lots.. I would have bought your apartment complex lol)
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I don't, unfortunately... :( How about I just write you a check for $10k, you use 100:1 margin on it, making it $1M and trade that for me? ;) I'll give you a % of everything you make for me! :eek: :D

Music_Producer said:
Btw, I am now on iTunes. So check my single out :p It was composed way back in 1997.. ten years to release it lol. I haven't changed the mastering, mixing.. nothing.. it's still vintage!

If anyone wants to ask questions about forex, first buy my track and then we can talk :D (my fee is 99 cents! and for you brits, aussies, etc.. that's nothing nowadays!)

http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewArtist?id=266345846
Click to expand...

Very cool, and congrats! I'll check it out and who knows, I might just pick it up... :)
 
That's damn good man, especially for '97. I grabbed it LOL.

I got a question for you(MP)...you've talked several times about how you "used to trade" and you lost a lot of money...and now you don't get stupid with it and you're able to keep your discipline. Is that right?

Well, I was going good and doing a lot better than I had expected and I was still maintaining my discipline, then I got stupid one day...my account isn't damaged too bad, but enough that I'm not trading until I regain my self control.

So, I guess my question is, do you still have problems with discipline and if, not what do you do to keep yourself under control?

Shard, I would like to hear your answer on this also, if you don't mind.

Is something you are always aware of and have to focus on daily(or when trading)?

Or, is it something that you've dealt with and it's no longer a problem?

I didn't really have this issue with news trading for some reason, but now it's the one thing keeping me from consistency LOL.

Edit: MP, did you use tunecore to get it on iTunes? Also, you should get Apple's affiliate program so you can get an extra 5 cents out of the
30 they take LOL.
 
nhallmark said:
That's damn good man, especially for '97. I grabbed it LOL.

I got a question for you(MP)...you've talked several times about how you "used to trade" and you lost a lot of money...and now you don't get stupid with it and you're able to keep your discipline. Is that right?

Well, I was going good and doing a lot better than I had expected and I was still maintaining my discipline, then I got stupid one day...my account isn't damaged too bad, but enough that I'm not trading until I regain my self control.

So, I guess my question is, do you still have problems with discipline and if, not what do you do to keep yourself under control?

Shard, I would like to hear your answer on this also, if you don't mind.

Is something you are always aware of and have to focus on daily(or when trading)?

Or, is it something that you've dealt with and it's no longer a problem?

I didn't really have this issue with news trading for some reason, but now it's the one thing keeping me from consistency LOL.

Edit: MP, did you use tunecore to get it on iTunes? Also, you should get Apple's affiliate program so you can get an extra 5 cents out of the
30 they take LOL.
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Hey man, thanks! You're my first customer :p

I have problems with discipline everyday, believe it or not. Like I posted earlier, if there are no major news trades.. I get bored, and then I start looking at charts, and start trading technicals. Today I traded the GJ collapse, I traded EUR/TRY, GBP/USD.. a lot of pairs, but with really small lots (micro lots)

The only way I stop being greedy is I actually put large stickers on my trading desk which boldly state "No technical trades" or "Don't be greedy" or "You really wanna blow your account again". Really silly things, but they work. They're staring at me in the face, and helps remind me every time I take a trade.

The part that is dangerous is when you trade small lots, and you get successful (all my trades today were profitable) you get confident.. and then you wish "I made 100 pips today, with only $10 profit. If I had put in all my money, I would have made $10,000 profit".. and then before you know it, bam.. you've put all your money on a stupid trade, which ends up wiping out your account.

I also think that the factor that really prevents discipline is the failure to accept that you're wrong. When I would hold on to a losing trade, it wasn't about the fear of losing money (well yeah a little, lol) but also that "I can't be wrong. According to me, this should go up.. and it will" It's like an insult to your intelligence that a trade is not working out according to your strategy. That's how most fund managers end up losing billions. It's a pretty common trend amongst us traders.

So yes, I deal with it on a daily basis. I don't think you can ever get used to being disciplined. We're greedy basically, and we need to be reminded of the pitfalls.

The music bit, no I submitted it to iTunes jukebox (a really long time ago) and then I came across tunecore which seems like better value (I don't know if they are faster in uploading your tracks)

Be patient man, and don't get greedy and stupid! I wish there was someone physically standing behind me, that everytime I wanted to jump in a trade.. they would whack me lol.
 
MP,

I didn't know you were a real Music Producer.
Your song sounds pretty good. Most of your music is Techno? Just wondering.

Nathan, sometimes it's best to play for a short time and turn off the computer and do something else. The more you play, the more chance you can loose. :-(

I have been in a loosing trade this past week.
In the hole for $15K right now. :eek:
I can't get out till the dollar gets stronger, hopefully next week.
It so scary how fast the market can turn on you. I was doing really well until this last trade. Made over 500% of my initial deposit and then boom, S*** hit the fan. Now I am just hoping that I can get out without getting a margin call.
 
Ocean, ouch - this market has been dollar bearish since the Feds cut rates. Don't tell me you went long on EU or GU. I do expect EU and GU to go down this week, but that would be mostly based on profit-taking.. and not really dollar strength as such.

This week there are a lot of reports - GU has already been dropping since some rumors about a huge writedown in Barclay's came out. EU.. I am not sure it will see a lot of action unless the ECB steps in.

For long term - dollar is very weak.. short term there might be some bearishness. So far, no one has intervened with the dollar falling so low, it's like no one is interested in stopping the fall.

Check out the carry pairs.. it's unwinding time all over again.
 
Ocean, wake up! $ is staging a rally since last night.. GU's fallen 300 pips or so.. EU fell 100+ pips.. hope you're out of the hole.
 
Music_Producer said:
Ocean, wake up! $ is staging a rally since last night.. GU's fallen 300 pips or so.. EU fell 100+ pips.. hope you're out of the hole.
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Ha ha I'm here.
Just been busy.
I am about 10K down and doing some minor trading in the meantime.
Hoping the get some of my losses back.
 
Well, I executed my first forex trade in a couple months last night - it's good to be back! :D

I received consistent signals from 3 different technical indicators I have set up and decided to short the USDCAD based on that. Made 60 pips on a $100K lot while I was sleeping - very nice! :cool:

I hope to get back into news trading this week as well, as I find it much more reliable than techical trading, at least when it comes to forex. I'll post my results...
 
~Shard~ said:
Well, I executed my first forex trade in a couple months last night - it's good to be back! :D

I received consistent signals from 3 different technical indicators I have set up and decided to short the USDCAD based on that. Made 60 pips on a $100K lot while I was sleeping - very nice! :cool:

I hope to get back into news trading this week as well, as I find it much more reliable than techical trading, at least when it comes to forex. I'll post my results...
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Good for you Shard.
Sometimes taking breaks are a good thing.
 
~Shard~ said:
I hope to get back into news trading this week as well, as I find it much more reliable than techical trading, at least when it comes to forex. I'll post my results...
Click to expand...

You bet :) The last few days were excellent because of UK reports.. the BoE inflation report really slammed the pound because it basically forecast a rate cut.

Then there was the bad retail sales #. Since the inflation report. GBP/USD has gone down almost 400+ pips.

Carry trades are funny.. when there no market reports of banks in trouble.. or reports of losses, they start moving back up .. slowly but steadily. AUD/JPY went above 107 a few weeks ago! It's back at 96 now.. lol. I love watching these things drop . it's like a free fall. I do get tempted to jump in but honestly it's pretty scary since you never know when they might reverse direction. I just play around with small lots.

Hope everyone is trading sensibly.. don't blow your account. Use good risk management (especially if you are trading technicals!)
 
Looking forward to some key economic reports next week and the resultant potential trades. For this week though, I'm done, other than perhaps a short or two on the stock markets today... ;) I had a couple good forex trades this week and will slowly get back up to full trading speed I hope! Now that winter's coming what else is there to do? ;) :D
 
Music_Producer said:
Carry trades are funny.. when there no market reports of banks in trouble.. or reports of losses, they start moving back up .. slowly but steadily. AUD/JPY went above 107 a few weeks ago! It's back at 96 now.. lol. I love watching these things drop . it's like a free fall. I do get tempted to jump in but honestly it's pretty scary since you never know when they might reverse direction. I just play around with small lots.
Click to expand...

I have noticed this LOL...trading EJ though. IMO, the best time to get in is when the market is active(during london for example) and when it breaks a .00 level. It has to fly through it though to mean anything. I've made a lot doing this for the past few weeks. EJ usually stalls at 86-87 so I get out there with 10-12 pips usually.

Since we're coming up on the holidays, when does everything die down?

Last year(wow, its been a year LOL) I was still on demo just trading news and I remember during Christmas nothing moved because of low volume, etc.

So, when does everyone take off for the holidays from your experience?

I'm thinking London shouldn't be a problem next week because they don't have thanksgiving. I guess we'll see.
 
~Shard~ said:
Quoted for truth! :cool:
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Yes, this past weekend after my bad discipline day, I drove up the coast and came back with a completely different mindset.

When I first started scalping, I would take only one trade per hour(thats conservative for scalping) and then not watch the charts until the next hour.

The logic being that when the market is moving, each candle on a 1hr chart goes somewhere. So, I would just catch a little of that move each hour and take a break after every one. This really helped me stay objective.

I think I'm about to start doing that again LOL.
 
Ah, what a way to end the week! The reports came back from a junior oil & gas exploration company here in the province which I had an inside line on and they did it - they found oil! :D Bought 50,000 shares @ $0.17 a while ago. Just sold @ $0.47, I don't even care if it goes up more... Well, if it pulls back due to profit-taking though I might pop back in at a discount.. ;) :D

The company is Nordic Oil & Gas - NOG on the TSX Venture exchange...

Yeah, not forex-related, but I haven't had a big win like this in a looong time and had to express my joy somewhere... :)
 
Someone mentioned gold? Check the highest price ever reached for gold, adjust it for inflation, index it to today's prices, and imagine how much further it could potentially go...
 
~Shard~ said:
Ah, what a way to end the week! The reports came back from a junior oil & gas exploration company here in the province which I had an inside line on and they did it - they found oil! :D Bought 50,000 shares @ $0.17 a while ago. Just sold @ $0.47, I don't even care if it goes up more... Well, if it pulls back due to profit-taking though I might pop back in at a discount.. ;) :D

The company is Nordic Oil & Gas - NOG on the TSX Venture exchange...

Yeah, not forex-related, but I haven't had a big win like this in a looong time and had to express my joy somewhere... :)
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Good job, Shard!

~Shard~ said:
Way ahead of you BV, but thanks. ;) I've made a fair bit on that lovely precious metal so far... :cool:
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Good job again :p I admire your knowledge of other markets. And I admire that your results seem to be very consistent ;)

I know you've explained some things in the past about gold/$ correlations, oil seasonal stuff, etc. but if you ever feel like explaining some more, I'm listening :)
 
Looking to open a live acct

Hey guys, Ive been looking to officially get into Fx trading for a few months now, but still looking around to find out if there is a sitable platform out there for me... Ive skimmed through the threads here and Ive come across Oanda, CMC and currenex, Im only family with forex.com as i did the practice account and started making good gains as a technical trader.....

Through my reading CMC isnt great, so thats out of the picture... forex.com to me is easy to understand, so I'm considering opening an account there... any suggestions on this platform, the difference from others.. or what platforms would you guys reccommend especially for a newbie... thanks :)
 
~Shard~ said:
Ah, what a way to end the week! The reports came back from a junior oil & gas exploration company here in the province which I had an inside line on and they did it - they found oil! :D Bought 50,000 shares @ $0.17 a while ago. Just sold @ $0.47, I don't even care if it goes up more... Well, if it pulls back due to profit-taking though I might pop back in at a discount.. ;) :D

The company is Nordic Oil & Gas - NOG on the TSX Venture exchange...

Yeah, not forex-related, but I haven't had a big win like this in a looong time and had to express my joy somewhere... :)
Click to expand...

Express your joy by giving me and nathan 2 condos in your complex :D Nice job mate.. inside line and all eh? Hehe.. who knows, it might become the next Haliburton so hold on to a few shares!
 
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